NEW YORK, October 3, 2006 -- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today that Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) is a recipient of its new Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), an initiative that will transform how clinical and translational research is conducted across the nation. The CTSA centers being established by NIH will form a national consortium focused on innovation, streamlining and expediting clinical research and the delivery of new treatments to patients.
Columbia is one of just 12 academic health centers from across the nation to receive this highly competitive grant. A total of 32 institutions applied for the initial grants. By 2012 NIH envisions having as many as 60 institutions linked in a consortium to energize the discipline of clinical and translational science.
"The development of this consortium represents the first systematic change in our approach to clinical research in 50 years," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. "Working together, these sites will serve as discovery engines that will improve medical care by applying new scientific advances to real world practice. We expect to see new approaches reach underserved populations, local community organizations, and health care providers to ensure that medical advances are reaching the people who need them."
New Irving Institute; Expanded Informatics, Biostatistics
The CTSA award will provide $54 million over five years to Columbia, allowing the establishment of an Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (IICTR). It will expand core resources available to clinical researchers, such as Columbia's already distinctive biomedical informatics support and biostatistical analysis. The proposed institute will be the intellectual home for the next generation of clinical and translational investigators across all four health sciences schools at CUMC, including the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the
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Contact: Craig LeMoult
cel2113@columbia.edu
212-305-0820
Columbia University Medical Center
4-Oct-2006